


Stay

by mialeave, orphan_account



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Birthday, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Late Night Conversations, Movie Night, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Romantic Friendship, Secret Identity, Texting, michelle is upset, rooftop chats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-09 13:36:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14717079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mialeave/pseuds/mialeave, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After Spider-Man saves Michelle, Peter begins to pay more attention to the seemingly composed girl that sits on his table at lunch.-“Stay, please. Just for the night.” She sounded like she was heartbroken and Peter couldn’t bring himself to fight her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my amazing [Beta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/typewritergirl98/pseuds/the_adorable_spiderman).

If you told Peter eighteen months ago that swinging around New York, dangling from skyscrapers at incredible heights, stopping crime, and being the subject of awe at his school would feel mundane, he would have never believed you. Now though, after the events of Berlin and his takedown of the criminal organisation fronted by the Vulture, Peter thought that he was missing something. Some unknown element to make his life exciting. 

He had stopped a handful of crimes tonight and helped a little girl find her house, but now perched on top of a billboard, overlooking the city. He often gravitated to the fringes of built-up areas, when the night went slowly, finding the surrounding dark alleys the terrain of most of the city’s delinquency.

He would never say it aloud, but he hoped there would be a mugging, or maybe a dealing of weapons for him to intercept. Those crimes were always the most entertaining to handle, though he felt guilty thinking that way.

As he surveyed the city, Peter spotted a man trying to remain unseen from behind a dumpster near the middle of a narrow dead-ended alley. “Alright, Karen. What’s going on here?” Karen zeroed in on the man in the alley and activated advanced reconnaissance mode. The man was ducked down, peering intermittently at the people passing on the quiet street, seemingly waiting for a queue. Peter had seen this set up countless times before. Usually there were multiple men from what Peter could tell. Someone usually stayed out of sight, ready to strike, while another lured bystanders into the trap. It was so predictable.Swinging closer, knowing he had to wait out these criminals in order to identify the man’s accomplice, Peter perched on the edge of a nearby rooftop, prepared to swing down.

A girl passed the opening of the alley, her head was down, focused on something in her hands. She was clearly not paying much attention to her surroundings. A man beside her on the sidewalk quickly shouldered her in before she knew what was happening. The jostle sent her falling into the alley, the object in her hands flying onto the floor. She managed to right herself before hitting the floor, looking quickly back towards the street. The man had now blocked off the exit. Escape was impossible.

“Look what we have here, pretty little thing.” The man sneered, eyeing her up and down. She backed up slowly from him, throwing a panicked glance backward. The second man still remained hidden behind the dumpster. From his position behind her back, her grabbed her by the wrist, and pulled her against him. He locked her scrambling body against his chest by her stomach. She screamed and Peter swiftly swung down, landing near the entrance. He drew closer to the man that shoved the woman into the alley, he was now closing in on the woman. “Whump,” Peter said behind him. The man turned around, angry but confused.

“Excuse me?” the man said, stepping closer to Peter.

“I said,” Peter began, quickly drawing back his fist. “Whump!” He repeated the noise again, this time louder as his fist connected to the man’s jaw, sending him spiraling to the floor. “Ah man, why am I always funniest when no one’s around to hear it,” Peter whined, shaking his fist off lightly from the force of the punch.

The girl took the opportunity to ram back her foot, connecting it with the other man’s groin. He let go of her, reflexively grabbing himself and groaning. She took off running before Peter had a chance to face her, so he quickly webbed the men to the ground and hurriedly followed after her. He spotted her brown hair retreating down the street and quickly webbed up to swing ahead of her.

“Hey, hey, hey. Slow down.” He tried to calm her, but she was shocked and frightened. She stopped briefly in front of him before running across the road at top speed.

Peter recognised that face though. “Michelle?” He said, just loud enough for her to hear as she was midway across the street. She slowed, turning back to the masked boy confused, when a loud horn blared. She turned toward the noise, eyes wide and reflecting the dazzling headlights of the car.

As the car was about to connect with her, she was quickly pulled out of the way, swooped up by Spider-Man as he swung her away from the road. He didn’t put her down when they were across to the next side, afraid she’d try to run off again. He decided instead to swing towards a nearby high rooftop. They soon landed on the roof, Peter finally putting her down. She jumped away from him a few feet before bending over to catch her breath.

“Alright, so you got me up here. What do you want?” Michelle asked, still shaken up and not impressed by the theatrics.

“I wanted to make sure you’re okay,” Peter said as if it were obvious. “those guys nearly-”

“I’m fully aware of what nearly happened,” She quickly cut him off, wincing at the thought. “but why did you drag me up here? And after nearly getting me ran over?” She was angry at him. Crap.

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t supposed to happen like that. You just kept running, I didn’t mean for you to nearly get hit by that car.” Peter apologised, regretting how it had played out.

“It only happened because you called out my name. Who even are you?” Michelle stalked towards him, her anger increasing as she continued. “How do you know who I am?”

“I- I didn’t say your name.” Peter sputtered, backing up with hands up, but she was impatient.

“I don’t need some guy following me around.” She continued, wildly gesturing to him.

“I’m sorry, I’m not stalking you. I just wanted to help.” Peter said as earnestly as he could. He needed to calm this situation down because she was too freaked out. She sounded like she was going to hyperventilate soon if she continued. “I saw those guys pull someone into the alley and I just wanted to stop them.”

She huffed at that, stopping her assault on him but still wasn’t appeased. She crossed her arms and frowned at him. “How do you know me?”

“I- Well I,” Peter began, unsure how to explain it. He took a breath. “I recognised you from DC.”

She contemplated that for a second but was quickly frowning at him once again. “I never told you my name in DC.”

“Yeah, well, I was busy.” Peter shot back.

“I know that, what does that have to do with this?” Michelle asked, puzzled.

“I don’t know!” Peter admitted. He wished Ned was here, he was terrible at this. “But I didn’t say your name.”

“Fine,” Michelle huffed again, frustrated. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. This was too much for her. “Just take me back down. I want to go home,” Michelle said, emotionally exhausted. “I don’t want to be stuck here arguing with some stranger in a bright spandex suit.” The thought of locking herself in her room for a few hours currently sounded extremely appealing.

“Uh, okay,” Peter said, unwilling to leave her alone when she was so upset. “How about I take you home? We can swing there if you want?” He framed it as a question rather than a statement, allowing her a choice.

Michelle took a minute to weigh her options, either she allowed this stranger to walk her home in the dark or she’d do the trek alone. She knew the choice that was obviously safer. If she was honest she didn’t want to be alone in the dark streets after what had happened. “You can take me. Though I don’t want to swing there, I’d rather walk, it’s not far.” She was more herself now, “I’m not okay with this,” She gestured to him again, “You said my name. You’ll have to give me an explanation at some point, but right now I can’t be bothered.”

“Okay,” Peter nodded.

He slowly lowered them back down into an alleyway and they began the short walk to her apartment. It was quiet. Michelle was exhausted and Peter too anxious to think of something appropriate to say. When they approached her building, Peter stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Michelle continued on. She stopped at the top of the stairs before turning back to him. “Thanks,” she began in her usual tone. “I, uh- don’t like to think about what would have happened if you didn’t help and I wanted to say I appreciate it.”

“Oh, you’re welcome.” Peter said, “I’m sorry for freaking you out.”

Michelle figured she’d trust him--considering all that he’d done--to explain himself later. “It’s okay, as long as you keep your word.”

“I will.” He said but that was enough for her, she turned and entered her building. When inside her room, she finally felt safe enough to face what had happened.

A couple hours later, when Peter crawled into his room, he found a text on his phone.

Received: 00:04

**MJ:** _Hey loser._ _You up?_

She never usually texted him, especially not this late at night, but he wasn’t going to mention that. He thought about how she must be feeling and checked the time, 00:42, hoping he wasn’t waking her by replying. He quickly typed out a response.

**Peter:** _ Yeah just about, what’s up? _

He washed up, not anticipating a reply from her until morning. When he re-entered his room, he saw he had a notification waiting for him.

Received 00:46

**MJ:** _ Can’t sleep, cons of living in the city. _

Any other night, Peter would have brushed off the comment. But with context as to why she was still awake, Peter felt a pang of something in his chest. The same pang that caused him to send back an unusual response.

**Peter:** _ Want to hang out? _

As soon as he sent it, he felt stupid. They’d never met up outside of school before, why would she now? She’d think he was being really weird. She’d probably call him a creep. Before he could think about it any further he saw a response pop up.

Received 00:48

**MJ:** _ Yeah alright. Meet you at the side of my building. _

Her response was so casual, and she quickly added her address. Peter didn’t know how to respond. Instead, he threw on some clothes, texted May that he was okay, and quickly climbed out his window yet again. Peter pulled the hood on his jacket up as he scaled down the building, thanking whatever god there was that no windows faced his wall. In the night air, without his costume, Peter felt the rush of the cool breeze. He was glad he’d thought to bring a hoodie.

He got to Michelle’s in a few minutes, she only lived a couple blocks away, and entered the alley beside her building. He looked around, confused why she’d want to meet him there. There was only a fence at the end and a few dumpsters around.

_ Psst _ .

His head shot up to the source of the noise, Michelle was on the bottom level of the fire escape. As their eyes met she quietly lowered the ladder for him to climb up on to. It was still a few meters off the ground so Peter jumped, grabbing the bottom rung and hoisting himself up.

“Nice one, Parker,” She said as she bumped arms with him. “You should try out for the gymnastics team, though I don’t think they accept flakes,” Michelle said with her usual sarcastic tone, her hair was tied back in a bun and she was in her pyjamas, he would think she looked sort of cute.When he met her gaze though, Peter could tell she’d been crying. Instead of saying anything he just smiled, sheepishly.

“I am not a flake, I’m just a very busy guy.” Peter knew it was a lame excuse, he didn’t even have the Stark internship to cling to anymore, everyone on the decathlon team knew that had ended.

“Yeah whatever, follow me,” Michelle said as she turned from him, starting up the flight of stairs. They climbed all the way to the roof. It wasn’t a tall building, Peter had been considerably higher in the past. Michelle seemed to enjoy the height, quickly going over to an area already set up near the edge.

Peter followed her over, seeing she’d set up a few blankets and pillows. She had a few books up here and an empty mug. He figured she’d already been up here when she’d messaged.

“Awwh, how sweet,” Peter said when he was sat cross-legged with her on the blanket, looking around at the makeshift bed.

“Shut it, Loser. this isn’t for you,” Michelle said as she settled into her mountain of pillows.

“Course not, MJ,” Peter said, smiling over at her. She threw an unimpressed look his way but didn’t offer any other response. Instead, she looked out over the city. Peter took the opportunity to make himself more comfortable. She’d taken her shoes off and he made quick work of following her lead, relaxing into his side of the pillows. They weren’t overly close, but they were close enough. Each of them on either end of the duvet, shoulders a foot apart, leaning against the pillows. Their feet might have overlapped if Michelle hadn’t tucked hers under her, but Peter didn’t mind the closeness.

As he looked out on the city, for once not looking for danger, he thought about the night they’d both had. She had been understandably freaked out, and he too felt like he was still recovering from the shock of the night's events. He watched her as she peered out, wondering what she was thinking. If he hadn’t known her as well as he did after years of quick interactions and decathlon training, Peter wouldn’t have noticed the concentrated gleam in her eye. Sure, she was never usually talkative, but she normally occupied herself on a book or her sketch pad. Now though, she was purposefully focused on the city.

“Tryna catch someone changing or something there MJ? What are you staring at?” Peter laughed at his joke, trying to bring her back to reality.

“Have you ever met Spider-Man?” Michelle asked without missing a beat or looking away from the lights surrounding them.

“What? Um, no? I- Why are you asking?” Peter was flustered again that night, completely caught off guard by the question.

“I met him earlier, I think he knew me,” Michelle said, still gazing out.

“Didn’t you meet him before though? Why are you- why do you care?”

She turned to him, finally, and he could see the confused expression on her face, “Because he said my name. I think. I don’t know. I was crossing the road and I wasn’t exactly listening but I swear he did.” Her eyebrows remained scrunched together as she looked back out.

“What if you just thought he did?” Peter tried to reason, hoping he could cling to her uncertainty but his voice sounded too high for his liking.

“Maybe,” Michelle said, but she didn’t sound like she actually believed it. She turned to him again, and he made the mistake of locking eyes with her. She looked determined and that look made him feel so exposed. “I felt like I knew him too though. It was his voice, it’s like when you hear an actor in an animation but can’t recall their name.”

Peters' cheeks were flaming, he was sure of it. “What are you going to do?” he asked, looking away, trying to be casual.

Michelle shook her head. “I don’t know.” She looked defeated, knowing there was only so much she could do. “I just feel so powerless to the world I guess. I mean, I can’t even choose whether some guy knows my name.” Her openness shocked Peter, she wasn’t being herself. Or perhaps, he thought, maybe this was the first time she’d ever been herself in front of him.

“Are- are you okay MJ?” Peter shifted slightly closer to her, wanting to help her in some way.

“Yeah I just, I nearly had a really bad night.” She sighed, looking down. She didn’t have to say anymore, Peter already knew and she couldn’t cope with talking about it.

Peter took a risk, shuffling over so their sides were nearly touching and put his arm around her lightly. She had ample opportunity to pull away but leaned into him slightly. He got the message, pulling her into his shoulder. She melted into him, arm coming up to clutch at the front of his hoodie. Now that he couldn’t see her face, she finally relaxed and let out a quiet sob. Peter pulled his other arm around her, shifting so her face was on his shoulder and his arm was around her waist. They were faced towards each other and her legs rested on his own. He gave her a moment to pull away, hoping he wasn’t being forward, but when she just continued to clutch at him he squeezed her into him gently.

His heart broke at the sounds of her pain, so Peter continued to hold her to him until she slowly settled, tired out from her crying. When she was still for a long time Peter made a move to get up but she held him tighter.

“No,” She said, voice a worn-out whisper. “Don’t.”

Peter stopped, conflicted. “MJ, you’ll freeze if we stay out here, why don’t we get you to bed.” He tried again to move but this time her hand raised to grasp the other side of his neck.

“Stay the night. Please? Just for the night.” She sounded like she was heartbroken, and Peter couldn’t bring himself to fight her. After a quiet agreement, he shuffled them into a more horizontal position. “There’s another blanket to your left.” He glanced around, spying the blanket and draping it over them the best he could with one arm.

“Night, MJ.” He said. She was already asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Things happen all the time that change how a person is seen by another. Sometimes the person may change in another's eye so drastically that they begin to wonder if they had ever known the person. Some people deny the shift until their face go blue, but it happened regardless.

That night on the roof was that something for Peter. Until that moment, he had thought of Michelle as a quiet, omniscient figure; untouched by the world around her, like a watchful deity. Seeing her fear, humanised her to him in a way he never thought possible. He began to pay more attention to her. It felt backwards at first, like looking into a surveillance camera, he knew she was watching him just as much as he was watching her. But slowly, it became normal. 

Every lunch, he’d ask her, “Hey MJ, how’s your day going?” And Ned would look at him in confusion for a minute before measuring Michelle’s response.

To which, at first she would look up from her book, fix Peter with a slit-eyed glare across the expanse of the lunch table, and throw back a calculated, “Why?” Before looking back down. She didn’t answer his question or talk any further for two weeks. On the day she finally cracked, Ned had been off sick and Peter had made the bold decision to sit opposite her. 

“What’s wrong?” She said, not looking up from her book. “Fellow Pada-dumb not here to keep you entertained so now I have to?”

Peter didn’t react, ignoring her question and started on his lunch. “Why,” He began, more confident without Ned’s questioning glances. “How’s it going in the life of our one and only Michelle Jones this mighty fine day?”

“Really, Peter?” She questioned, lowering her book. “What do you want?”

“Well,” Peter met her stare, challenging her. “I’m just wondering what a young lady such as yourself does on a day such as today. It’s just such fine weather we’re having.” They both knew he was joking as he raised his arm towards the unseasonal downpour outside.

She took pity on his terrible attempt of humour, when she responded with, "I do believe I will be having myself a day of relaxation in preparation for the busy-as-a-bumble weekend.” Her book was placed  down as she leveled his challenging look.

Peter smiled at her effort and raised an eyebrow. “Now tell me, why would one be hustling if it’s such a tedious weekend.”

“In preparation for the festivities, of course.” She acted scandalised, placing a hand on her chest.

“Festivities? I apologise, I must have missed the telegram. What are we celebrating this upcoming weekend?” Peter asked, brows furrowed.

“I do say, Mr. Parker, you do humble me. It’s my birthday you see.” She leaned forward, bracing her head on her elbows.

“A birthday?” Peter’s voice and eyebrows raised in surprise, “Now that would be cause for celebration.”

“Yes, and it’ll be quite the spectacle, I’m turning sixteen.”

“Sixteen? Why it was only last year you were fifteen.” Peter reverted to his most comfortable state, quoting films.

“Too young or too old?” Michelle asked, seamlessly switching to fit his reference. They both knew where the conversation led. The maturity of her ‘physic’. Peter knew he wouldn’t make it to the end without turning redder than a tomato.

“Okay fine,” Peter said in defeat, his voice returning to its normal style. “You never told me your birthday was this weekend.”

“You never asked.” Michelle quipped, still leaning forward on her elbows. Peter couldn’t help but admire her. Sitting like that, eyes bright and engaging, a smile pulling at the sides of her mouth, he had to admit Michelle looked quite beautiful.

“O-okay then. That’s fair.” Peter said nodding, now that he was focused on looking at her his brain was frazzled. “What are you, uh, doing for it?”

She leaned back off of her elbows, remaining slouched as she usually did. “Just a small family gathering. You’re not invited.” She tacked on the last sentence, but it held no malice. It was a statement more than a rejection.

“Yeah, probably for the best. If you think I clam up at school, you should see me with people’s parents. Oh jeez, it’s not a comfortable sight. Like really, it’s- it’s bad,” Peter rambled, trying to make light of the situation. It was all painfully true, however. He was overly formal and had no weirdness filter It was like word vomit. “But we could do something else, I think the cinema's playing a rerun of blade runner because the new film’s coming out.”

“Blade runner, hey?” Michelle asked, tilting her head to the side and narrowing her gaze. “You want to 'go see a movie’ with me, Parker?”

“No! no. N-not like that! I mean, not that I  _ wouldn’t _ want to,” Peter's face was burning. Why did he say that? He was an idiot. “I mean, it’s your birthday so we’ll do whatever you want. We don’t even have to see it at all. If you don’t want to, that is. I’m not canceling within a minute of making plans.”

“With your track record, who knows,” Michelle said, ignoring his admission. Peter just sat sheepishly, he knew if he started off again he’d probably just say something stupid. Instead, he waited for Michelle to respond. “Alright, why not. I'm free Sunday, meet you outside the cinema?"

“Y-yeah,” Peter nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah I’ll see you then. Well, I mean, I’ll see you before then. We still have three classes together later but I’ll see you as in-”

“It’s okay Peter I know what you meant. Breathe for a second.” Michelle said. She was packing her book into her bag in one motion. She stood as the bell rang but stayed a second to add, “I’ll see you then.” 

Peter was left dumbfounded on the bench, staring after her as she navigated the crowds with ease. The rest of the day he had to keep reminding himself to quit looking at her because out of everyone, MJ would be the one to notice. Instead, he tried to focus on work. It didn’t help when part-way through English Michelle held up a drawing of him looking out from the corner of his eyes with a dopey expression. She’d seen him looking, that confirmed it. He blushed lightly and hid his face in the sanctity of his crossed arms on his desk.

That evening, Peter swung nearby the alley where he saw Michelle. It reminded him of the large men, as daunting as mountains, surrounding Michelle’s smaller frame. He’d gone back later that night to hand them over to the police but they’d already gone. He had, however, found Michelle’s discarded item. It was a book. Of course it was a book, typical Michelle. Peter had been keeping in his room, unsure how to return it without freaking her out, or worse, revealing he was Spider-Man. He had decided to leave it on the roof but due to the rain the past few days that had been impossible. Tonight though, it was clear skies and he resolved there was no time like the present.

Quickly stopping by his room where he’d stashed the book under his bed, Peter made his way towards MJ’s building before going on patrol. He stopped when he was on her roof, taking a moment to gaze out at the street below, just as he and MJ had weeks before.

“This is awkward. I thought I reserved the roof from eight to eleven.” The voice was unmistakable and Peter spun around. MJ was climbing up onto the roof from the ladder but remained a few feet away, clearly still not completely comfortable around him.

“Oh I, uh, was just leaving. I just wanted to bring back this.” Peter held out the book, thanking the stars that he’d spoken to Mr. Stark about a voice modulator the week before, it was only subtle, enough that it wouldn’t be outwardly obvious. ‘Just enough so people believe it’s Spidey’s real voice.’ Mr. Stark had said. Peter couldn’t argue, it didn’t sound overly fake. He was still no Batman, to his dismay.

“What’s up with you? Do you have a cold? You sound weird.” Michelle asked as she drew marginally closer.

“Um, no. I’m fine,” Peter began, feeling insecure about being called out so quickly. “I’ve got to, uh.” He pointed his thumb behind him, over the edge of the roof.

“Wait,” Michelle called, postponing his exit. “I just wanted to say thanks.The other day I was spooked but I am glad you were there. I think I was just caught in my head and I thought I heard something I didn’t.”

“It’s no problem, Ma’am. I’m just doing my job. You know, ‘friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man’ and all that.” Peter said, relieved she wouldn’t grill him on his slip-up.

“I actually, well- I wondered if you could do me one other favour.” Michelle began, glancing downward and around herself hesitantly.

“Yeah, I think I could do that,” Peter replied, worried about the nervous girl.

“Well I, uh, I’ve only really left the house for school since, you know...” Michelle gestured vaguely to her left. “I’m usually surrounded by commuters or classmates and, well, I made plans I can’t miss. I don’t want to have to cancel, but I’m still not confident going across the city on my own.” 

Peter was stunned. Michelle was asking him to, what? Escort her there? He hadn’t realised she’d been so affected. Sure, she’d not spoken much to him or Ned, but Peter figured she’d been avoiding him out of embarrassment of showing she had feelings. Not because she was still upset over what had happened. “Oh, so you want me to take you there?”

Michelle looked at him again for the first time since she’s asked. “Yeah, sort of. You don’t have to, I could probably do it on my own.” 

“No, no. It’s fine, I can totally take you,” Peter had subconsciously drawn closer to her, preparing to maneuver carrying her. “Where is it you have to go?”

“Oh, no,” Michelle said, protectively raising her arms. “It’s not today, it’s on Sunday.”

“S-Sunday?” Peter asked. 

“Yeah. If you have other plans you don’t have to. I was just wondering.” Michelle explained.

“Oh. Uh, yeah I can do Sunday. Where are you going?” Not that Peter needed to ask, he already knew. Knowing, however, that Michelle was making such a commitment to going with him made his heart swell and his face flush. She was leaving her comfort zone severely just by accepting these plans with him while she was still so shaken. He only vaguely heard her response, but it was enough to confirm it was the cinema she needed to be taken to. 

“Can I get your number or what? Can’t have you sculking my roof waiting and scaring my neighbours tomorrow.” Michelle quipped after a longer than comfortable silence.

For obvious reasons, he couldn’t give her his number. So he spouted an excuse. “Secret Identity. It’s classified. Don’t worry, though, I’ll know.”  He figured that sounded pretty mysterious and awesome. 

Michelle argued she’d be able to tell him what time tomorrow if she just had his number so he’d said he’d pop by that night to check, no big deal.

“It’s my birthday tomorrow.” She’d said with a small smile.

“Oh happy birthday. I guess I’ll have to bring you something.” Peter smiled back brilliantly, but behind the mask, she couldn’t see.

“No, you don’t have to do that. Don’t worry about it.” She’d swiftly said. Peter just laughed and accepted, though he had every intention to bring her something. “I’m Michelle, by the way.”

Peter nodded and saluted her. “Spider-Man.” He said in self-introduction. He’d left after that, wishing her a good evening and swinging off, already considering what to get her.

While lounging on top of a roof later, Peter decided to drop MJ a text to see what she was up to.

**Peter:** _Hey, how you doing?_

He received a response within two minutes.

Received 21:43

**MJ:** _What’s up loser, just chilling at home. You’re not planning on asking me on another booty call, are you?_

Peter choked in surprise before composing himself and raising an eyebrow at her playfully flirty tone. It wasn’t unwelcome.

**Peter:** _Oh no, I couldn’t possibly. Far too overcast for stargazing, sorry._

 **Peter:** _Like he says, stars. Can’t do it. Not today._

He smiled at his joke and use of meme as he put his phone back into its compartment. He’d spotted a man’s bike being stolen and was quickly on the scene to catch the thief. 

When returning to another rooftop, Peter once again saw he had a reply.

Received 21:47

**MJ:** _A shame, it’s meant to be a full moon tonight. I was hoping to stay up with my binoculars looking for wolves_. 

**Peter:** _Same binoculars you use to study the unsuspecting masses from your roof? Or is this a different set?_

 **MJ:** _No, new set. Perks of having a birthday tomorrow._

 **Peter:** _Look at you, spoilt for choice. I’m almost jealous._

She didn’t reply to that and Peter, saw it as the end of their conversation. He continued on with his night, it was relatively quiet tonight so he figured he could go home early. He pulled out his phone to send May a text to let her know he was on his way, when he saw there was a text waiting for him from MJ.

Received 22:51

**MJ:** _ I think we could see the stars fine tonight. Fancy giving it a go? _

Peter stared at the message. It was sent about half an hour after his last text so he figured she’d deliberated sending it. He smiled at the casual invite, Michelle was never true to form in her understated-ness. He figured a visit to her roof didn’t sound like the worst idea, so he text back a quick reply and went to find the alley where he’d webbed up his bag.

**Peter:** _One (1) Peter, inbound._

He knew it was a lame attempt at humour, but he wasn’t very smooth. It was the best response he could formulate while working through why Michelle wanted to see him. 

He was distracted while he swung along.Without thinking, he nearly swung up to her roof still in his suit. Quickly swinging back towards the alley, Peter did not miss the top of a wild head of hair, already waiting on the roof.

He was not too proud to admit that he sort of rushed getting changed and ran towards Michelle’s building. He easily jumped the extra meter for the ladder and climbed it in easy movements, silently rushing up the stairs, eager to hang out again with Michelle.

“How’d you get up here? I was waiting on a tragic text of, ‘oh MJ come help, I’m stuck in the alley. Please come let me up.’” Michelle said in a sarcastic tone. She was sat on the make-shift bed, turning to the noise of Peter’s approach.

“I hate to disappoint, but I managed just fine,” Peter said in a somewhat boastful tone. He made to join her, slinging down his bag beside her, but she got up and quickly slipped on her shoes.

“Not tonight, loser. You were right, far too overcast.” She said gesturing above them as though in evidence.

“Oh,” Peter let out, disappointed Michelle no longer wanted to hang out, his brows pulled together and his lip pouted marginally.

“Tonight we can hang out indoors, like normal people,” Michelle stated as she walked past him to the ladder. “You coming?” She looked at him as she turned to climb down.

Peter quickly scooped up his bag, his happiness restored, and followed her across the roof to the ladder. They only descended two floors before Michelle brought them to a stop, casually sliding open the window and climbing in. Peter hesitantly followed her. He was so concentrated on not stepping on anything that he didn’t look up until he was fully grounded in the room. It was Michelle’s room, if the books strewn haphazardly around the room in piles reaching above Peter’s knee was any indication. It was simply decorated; there were potted plants on shelves overhanging Michelle’s large white bed, a full bookcase overtaking the far wall, and a simple purple rug on the floor, matching the blanket thrown on top of her duvet.

“Nice, uh, place you got here MJ.” Peter said, turning redder as he continued to look around the room, wanting to take in everything in hopes of learning more about her.

“Thanks, but don’t get too settled, we’re going to watch TV.” Michelle said as she continued out the room. Peter followed her quickly, noting there wasn’t a TV in her room. She walked to the sofa in the living room. It was nothing special, slightly larger than Peter’s but seemingly lacking the little homey touches May sprinkled around their apartment.

“Where’re your family? I don’t want to wake them,” Peter whispered, peering around. This would be one of the worst ways to meet the Joneses - sitting on their sofa, watching a film with their daughter in the middle of the night, having clearly snuck in.

“Oh don’t worry,” Michelle said at a normal volume. “They don’t get here until tomorrow, you’re fine.” She said as he joined her on the sofa, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on.

“Tomorrow? Aren’t they here to bring in your birthday with you?” Peter asked, confused. May always made a point to burst into his room, handheld streamer cannon ready, to cheer his birthday. Lately, she’d enlisted the help of Ned so Peter could be covered in silly string as well. Most of the time it took him by surprise but thanks to his spidey-sense, this year he had a second to cover his face before the onslaught began. They normally all laughed at how covered Peter was before May left with a firm ‘now clean this up’ and a wink.

“Nah, they’re in Chicago. They go on business trips there for like half of the year.” Michelle said, still focused on finding an acceptable film. Peter considered this. The other day, she’d come back to an empty apartment. She had been alone, unable to sleep because the world had felt unsafe. Peter was instantly glad he had come over that night, Michelle had needed someone around to feel assured. “Don’t worry, you’ll be long gone when they arrive. The party’s not till six so they’ll probably get here at like three. Oh,  _ The Godfather. _ ”

“Okay,” Peter said, still feeling uneasy about Michelle being on her own so much but not wanting her to feel like he was pitying her. “Oh hey, I got snacks. Give me a second.” Peter picked up and rummaged through his bag. He was pretty sure he still had some of the food May packed for him in his patrol bag before he went out. He triumphantly pulled out a slightly crumpled bag of Doritos and a few mini candy bars. “Ta-daa.”

At midnight, Peter nudged MJ, she was lounging tiredly beside him, focused on the screen. “What, loser? You want to explain to me why casting Sofia Coppola for the last one is an act of nepotism in a film that is inferior to the rest? Don’t bother. I agree.” She didn’t look at him, still focusing on the screen.

“No, MJ,” he nudged her once again. “It’s your birthday. Happy birthday.” Peter said with a smile.

Michelle turned her face to him, a small smile of her own turning up the edges of her lips. “Thanks, Peter.” She began but quickly turned back to the screen, face once again blank. “Now shut up, a good part is coming up.”

Peter smiled at her response, turning back to the screen but glancing back at her quickly, a discreet smile was on her face and Peter was glad he came.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michelle begins to piece it together.

This time, when MJ eventually fell asleep, Peter knew he had to go. He stayed, perhaps longer than he should have after she fell asleep. Comforted by the quiet sounds of the television and the light weight of MJ’s feet resting on his lap, he found himself reluctant to get up. Rising slowly, he was careful not to jostle MJ too much as to not wake her. He snuck into her room, returning to carefully lay her fluffy blanket over her, making sure she wouldn’t get cold in the night. With that, he quickly grabbed a notebook that was open on the kitchen counter and wrote a quick note. He left it on the coffee table in front of Michelle before he climbed back out of her window, closing it behind him.

When Michelle woke, it was still early morning. The sun was shining into the windows and she had slept more soundly than she had in awhile. Glancing around, she realised Peter was no longer there. Sitting up groggily, she noticed the notebook she used to jot down messages was positioned in front of her.

_ Happy birthday MJ. I hope you have a good day with your family. Sorry I had to go but May wants me back for tomorrow, I had a nice time though and I’ll see you Sunday. – Peter. _

It was short but made Michelle smile.

A few blocks away, Peter, was still asleep. After leaving Michelle’s he had been conflicted. He knew he liked her, he knew he wanted to be there for her, but he didn’t know if it would be right to tell her he was Spider-Man. Telling her, he reasoned, would just put her in danger if some other great danger came for him. He stayed up until early morning in dispute with himself. Finally, he reached the decision that if things became serious with Michelle, then he’d tell her. There was only so much he could keep from her but there was no use putting her at risk that could easily be avoided.

The rest of his day was spent, as usual, helping May and hanging out with Ned. Today though, he’d also made an effort to message Michelle, see how her day was going and to solidify their plans for the next day. It was nice to talk to her, easy even. He’d even say he enjoyed it.

Ned caught Peter smiling down at his phone, though. “Who are you texting all smiley?” Ned asked, “Has Liz messaged again?”

Liz usually messaged Peter every month or so. It was just to catch up and see how the team was doing. With her being in Oregon, any chance at a romance fizzled out. Though Peter admits that once he found out her Dad was the Vulture and put him in jail, he had lost feelings for her fast. It was too complicated and the guilt was too strong for their still-budding romance. 

Peter had chosen not to tell Ned about MJ, however, he felt the events of the month before were too private. Sure, Ned had noticed Peter reach out more, but he just figured he wanted to be more friendly to the new team captain.

“Um, no. It’s MJ.” Peter said, looking up from his phone, judging Ned’s reaction.

The other boy’s face shifted. “MJ?” Ned wasn’t an idiot, and after noticing Peter’s extra attention to her he grew suspicious. “What are you messaging her about? Is there another meeting next week?” 

“Just stuff.” Peter said, trying to be dismissive. “It’s her birthday today.”

Ned didn’t believe him but smiled anyway. Peter was the type to go out of his way to message a girl he liked, especially on her birthday. “Okay, tell her I said ‘hey and happy birthday’.” Ned said turning back to his current Lego set, eyes still narrowed questionably.

“Will do bud.” Peter replied as he typed out Ned’s greeting. He checked the time, seeing it was approaching ten, and thought he better go visit Michelle. Her party was over and she would be waiting for her friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man to check in for tomorrow. “Hey, uh, Ned. I just got to go do something I’ll be right back.” Peter said as he grabbed his spidey bag.

“Off to save the city?” Ned said, watching Peter approach his window, used to his friend's sudden departures.

“Something like that, I’ll be right back.” With that, Peter hoisted himself out and down into an alley to get changed. He was soon in his suit and scaling the buildings towards Michelle’s apartment. He figured as it was only a quick trip he’d keep his backpack so he wouldn’t lose his clothes, and could more easily carry her present.

Climbing up Michelle’s building was considerably faster than using the fire escape. Peter swung himself over the ledge and onto the roof.Michelle was already standing waiting for him.

“Hey,” she greeted casually. “I was wondering if you were planning on showing up. Tomorrow could you take me at like five?” Michelle asked, still hesitant but assured since he had already accepted.

“Yeah sure,” Peter simply said, not wanting to take up too much of her evening while her family was still around. “I’ll see you then.” He nearly turned away but quickly remembered. “Oh.” He pulled his strap off of his arm, twisting his bag to rummage past his clothes to the bottom. “Here.” He handed Michelle a small box. “Happy birthday. Sorry I can’t stick around for cake, but I got to go.”

“Oh, uh, thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Michelle said, a little blindsided by the gift. As he turned to leave, Michelle’s eyes squinted “Hey I know-” she began but stopped herself. “Never mind. See you, Spidey. Thanks for the present.”

“Bye,” Peter called over his shoulder as he jumped off the ledge, swinging quickly back to his apartment. His work for the evening was done.

The next day, Peter fretted over his outfit until he was found by May, digging through his wardrobe on his hands and knees.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were stressed.” May said, a sly tone in her voice as she eyed the piles of clothes thrown out of his wardrobe. Her eyes landed on a gift sitting on his bed and she smiled. “Now what’s with all this.” She asked as she gestured to all his clothes.

“I don’t think I own any clothes,” Peter said as he continued to dig through the mass bundles on his floor, glancing up at May.

“I hate to contradict you but I’d argue you have plenty of clothes,” May said, pointedly looking around at the crumpled shirts laying on his floor.

“Not nice shirts. Well, not  _ nice, _ nice but nice. Presentable. All I have are science or math t-shirts.” Peter said, sitting back to look around.

“You like those shirts,” May defended. “What’s this for?” She asked, moving to help him search.

“The movies,” Peter stated, going back to throwing around his clothes.

May sent him a knowing look.

“What about this?” She asked, holding up a checked shirt. “You could go casual and put a jumper over it?” She said, pointing to the heap of jumpers by his dresser. Peter considered this, quickly jumping up to dig through the heap. He eventually pulled up a soft blue jumper, holding it up for Mays approval. “See, not so hard.”

“Thanks, May,” Peter called, running out of his room to the bathroom with the clothes bunched in his hands. He exited with his Spider-Man suit on, ready to pick up Michelle as Spider-Man as promised, his bag slung over his shoulder. Grabbing the box from his bed and placing it carefully in his bag.

“So who’s the special someone?” May asked, watching Peter hustle around his room, shoving his clothes back into various drawers. When he finished, he did a final spin, checking that his room was clean.

“Oh, Michelle. You know, MJ? From the academic decathlon.” Peter said awkwardly. “You met her when we went on the DC trip. Or ,wait, no, I don’t think you did. She kind of slipped off when everyone was being picked up.”

“Whoever she is you seem to quite like her,” May said with a knowing smile.

“I do, she’s so smart, she knows like, everything. It was her birthday yesterday so I asked her to see the Blade Runner re-run. I’ve got to do something before the movies though.” Peter rambled. Quickly checking his phone. Peter panicked when he saw it was quickly approaching five. He still had to hide his bag near the cinema before going all the way back to MJ’s. “Sorry but I’ve got to go, I meant to leave ten minutes ago.”

“Okay, have fun and be safe. Let me know if you’ll be out late.” May called as Peter rushed through the window.

“Will do, love you,” Peter yelled over his shoulder. He swung as fast as he could to an alley a few blocks from the movie theatre, figuring then he could change back once he dropped MJ off and casually walk to meet MJ. He webbed up his bag and rushed back towards her building.

Two minutes after five, Peter landed on her rooftop. It was clear she’d made some effort compared to her usual look. Her hair was secured up in a bun but a few curls escaped, framing her face. Her face remained bare of make-up, as it usually did, but seeing it without obstacle made it strikingly obvious how beautiful she was. Her high rise ripped black skinny jeans were paired with beaten up high tops, under a large denim jacket with various pins from causes she supported. All in all, Peter thought she looked breathtaking.

“Wow,” Peter let out as he stood, looking at her. He couldn’t think past that she was so pretty. He realised however, that he was currently Spider-Man so he should keep the staring down to a non-creepy minimum. 

“Thanks, spider-boy,” Michelle said, blushing slightly, “We going?” she asked to cover her slight embarrassment, impatient to leave.

“Uh, yeah sure. Grab on,” Peter said, holding out a hand to her. She eyed it contemplatively before reaching out and grabbing it. Peter pulled her to him lightly, remembering that she still wasn’t completely comfortable with unknown people and strange boys who dressed in spandex. “Hold on.” With that he was off, careening down to the street below. Michelle adjusted to the web-slinging quickly. Taking the opportunity to peer down at the people below. She decided she enjoyed the experience and felt comfortable in this boy’s arms. He used her presence as an excuse to do various spins or sharp turns, no longer worrying about rushing. With his playful attitude and slightly awkward demeanour, Michelle found it hard to not consider the face hidden beneath the mask. That was, until her stomach fell in dread when he let them get a little bit too close to the ground before slinging up to the next building. After that, she decided to just enjoy herself.

Soon enough, Peter carefully lowered them to an alleyway across the street from the movies. There, Michelle took a second to adjust after her flight through town. Her hair was now more wind-swept but still styled. Her face was flushed from the rush of wind and adrenaline. “Ever the showman.”

“Didn’t want to give you a shoddy experience,” He said, shrugging. “I couldn’t have my TripAdvisor score dip any lower.”

“Uh-huh, sure,” Michelle said, smirking at his familiar humour.

Peter, spurred on by Michelle’s almost-smile, continued to excitedly spout lame jokes, trying to impress the girl in front of him like an idiot.

“Why, look what we got here.” The booming voice instantly halted Peter and MJ’s conversation. Their heads whipped to the entrance of the alley, seeing two looming figures approaching. The men from the previous month. “The spider-punk and his bitch. Aren’t we in luck, Ted?” Michelle squeaked quietly, and Peter took a defensive step in front of her, blocking her body with his.

“Karen, activate enhanced combat mode. Michelle, you need to get out of here. I’ll distract them, give you some time to get away.” Peter said, voice low and constrained. “Get across the street and wait in the theater, make sure you’re around other people, your friend will meet you there.”

“What? I can’t just-“ Michelle started, perplexed.

“I can’t stop these guys and worry about you. Please, leave.”

She nodded reluctantly, though he couldn’t see, and waited for her moment. Peter rushed towards the men, preemptively webbing one of their hands to their pant legs and raising his arm to restrain the other. The guy twisted and squirmed, trying to free his arm while also fighting off Peters movements. The other man ran towards Michelle. She squealed in ill-contained horror. When he got a foot from her, he stopped and fell backward.

“If you go anywhere near her, you’ll have to deal with me!” Spider-Man had webbed his back and dragged him backwards. The other man was now on the ground, wheezing.

Michelle saw a path to freedom and ran. As she sprinted past, the half restrained man got up and swung out his unrestricted fist towards her. He blocked her path and aimed to uppercut her. She winced, squeezing  her eyes closed and flinching away, halting her escape. Nothing happened. She shot open her eyes to see Spider-Man had intercepted the blow.It landing on the side of his gut.

“MJ, get out of here!” He cried, quickly turning to catch another impending hit from the relentless brute beside him.

She nodded frantically and began to run. As she approached the end of the alley, however, she stopped, head snapping back to Spider-Man. One man was now restrained, but the other was in a brawl with Spider-Man. 

If she had any doubts before, MJ now knew for sure. 

She continued on reluctantly, nervously glancing back before crossing the street. When she was across, she saw that both of the men were now strung up on the wall. Spider-Man was nowhere to be seen. She searched the rooftops, seeing what she thought might have been a flash of red between two buildings. Feeling slightly abandoned, Michelle frantically looked around. Peter had to be somewhere near. A few minutes later he appeared from the same rough direction Michelle had seen the figure escape to. Was he even trying to be discreet?

Peter’s hair was dishevelled, and his clothes crumpled but he had bigger concerns. He had a look of apprehension as he quickly stumbled past the people on the sidewalk, rushing to Michelle. He gave her a quick, inspecting look up and down before forcing an obviously faux-smile.

“H-h, hey Michelle, been here long?” Peter asked, slightly out of breath.

“Really, loser?” Her eyebrow raised, and her gaze pinned him to the spot.

“What, uh- what are you talking about?” Peter’s eyes widened.

“Aren’t you-” Michelle began but shook it off, maintaining her sceptical look. “Where have you been?”

“I was, uh- I slept in,” Peter responded, frazzled. It was a lame excuse. “May woke me up like a half hour ago.”

“Peter, you do realise it’s five o’clock in the afternoon?”

“I never said I had the perfect sleep schedule, sue me.”

Her eyes narrowed further at his weak excuse, but she chose not to push him. “Uh-huh. Right.”

“Shall we go in?” Peter asked, attempting to side-line the conversation. He gestured to the doors of the theatre. “I think it’s started already.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus begins their date. Thank you for reading, let me know if you liked it. Next chapter coming soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Quick question for my next fic: What are MJ and Peter most likely to break up over? Like a serious, no-longer-talking break-up.


End file.
